The Comparative Morphology of History
The Tables
Spengler ends Volume I with three foldout tables setting the Cultures side by side. Read a row across and you see the figures, styles and states he calls “contemporary” — at the same point in their Culture's life-cycle, whatever the calendar says. Pick a phase to isolate one band of contemporaries, or hide a Culture to compare the rest.
See the same life-cycle unfold in time on the Phase-Clock.
“Contemporary” Spiritual Epochs
Cultures Contemporaries
| Epoch | Indianfrom 1500 B.C. | Classicalfrom 1100 B.C. | Arabianfrom 0 | Westernfrom 900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | ||||
| I Birth of a myth of the grand style, expressing a new God-feeling. World-fear and world-longing. | Vedic religion. Aryan hero-tales. | Hellenic-Italian “Demeter” religion of the people. Homer. Heracles and Theseus legends. | Primitive Christianity (Mandaeans, Marcion, Gnosis, Syncretism: Mithras, Baal). Gospels, Apocalypses. Christian, Mazdaist and pagan legends. | German Catholicism. Edda (Baldr). Bernard of Clairvaux, Joachim of Floris, Francis of Assisi. Popular Epos (Siegfried). Western legends of the Saints. |
| II Earliest mystical-metaphysical shaping of the new world-outlook. Zenith of Scholasticism. | Preserved in the oldest parts of the Vedas. | Oldest (oral) Orphic, Etruscan discipline. After-effect: Hesiod, Cosmogonies. | Origen (d. 254), Plotinus (d. 269), Mani (d. 276), Iamblichus (d. 330). Avesta, Talmud, Patristic literature. | Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), Duns Scotus (d. 1308), Dante (d. 1321), Eckhardt (d. 1329). Mysticism. Scholasticism. |
| Summer | ||||
| III Reformation: internal popular opposition to the great springtime forms. | Brahmanas. Oldest parts of the Upanishads (10th and 9th Centuries). | Orphic movement. Dionysiac religion. “Numa” religion (7th Century). | Augustine (d. 430). Nestorians (c. 430). Monophysites (c. 450). Mazdak (c. 500). | Nicolaus Cusanus (d. 1464). John Hus (d. 1415). Savonarola, Karlstadt, Luther, Calvin (d. 1564). ⚑ editorial note |
| IV Beginning of a purely philosophical form of the world-feeling. Opposition of idealistic and realistic systems. | Preserved in the Upanishads. | The great Pre-Socratics (6th and 5th Centuries). | Byzantine, Jewish, Syrian, Coptic and Persian literature of the 6th and 7th Centuries. | Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Bruno, Boehme, Leibniz (16th and 17th Centuries). |
| V Formation of a new mathematic. Conception of number as copy and content of world-form. | (lost) | Number as magnitude (proportion). Geometry, Arithmetic. Pythagoreans (from 540). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers | The indefinite number (Algebra). (Development not yet investigated.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers | Number as Function (analysis). Descartes, Pascal, Fermat (c. 1630). Newton and Leibniz (c. 1670). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers |
| VI Puritanism: rationalistic-mystic impoverishment of religion. | (lost) | Pythagorean society (from 540). | Mohammed (622). Paulicians and Iconoclasts (from 650). | English Puritans (from 1620). French Jansenists (from 1640), Port Royal. |
| Autumn | ||||
| VII “Enlightenment.” Belief in the almightiness of reason. Cult of “Nature.” “Rational” religion. | Sutras; Sankhya; Buddha; later Upanishads. | Sophists of the 5th Century. Socrates (d. 399). Democritus (d. c. 360). | Mutazilites. Sufism. Nazzam, Alkindi (c. 830). | English Rationalists (Locke). French Encyclopaedists (Voltaire). Rousseau. |
| VIII Zenith of mathematical thought. Elucidation of the form-world of numbers. | (lost) | Archytas (d. 365). Plato (d. 346). (Conic Sections.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers | (Not investigated.) (Theory of number. Spherical Trigonometry.) | Euler (d. 1763), Lagrange (d. 1813), Laplace (d. 1827). (The Infinitesimal problem.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers |
| IX The great conclusive systems. | Idealism (Yoga, Vedanta). Epistemology (Vaisheshika). Logic (Nyaya). | Plato (d. 346). Aristotle (d. 322). | Alfarabi (d. 950). Avicenna (d. c. 1000). | Goethe. Kant. Schelling, Hegel, Fichte. |
| Winter | ||||
| X Materialistic world-outlook: cult of science, utility and prosperity. | Sankhya. Tscharvaka (Lokoyata). | Cynics, Cyrenaics. Last Sophists (Pyrrhon). ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism | Communistic, atheistic, Epicurean sects of Abbassid times. “Brethren of Sincerity.” | Bentham, Comte, Darwin. Spencer, Stirner, Marx, Feuerbach. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism |
| XI Ethical-social ideals of life. Epoch of “unmathematical philosophy.” Skepsis. | Tendencies in Buddha's time. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism | Hellenism. Epicurus (d. 270), Zeno (d. 265). ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism | Movements in Islam. | Schopenhauer, Nietzsche. Socialism, Anarchism. Hebbel, Wagner, Ibsen. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism |
| XII Inner completion of the mathematical form-world. The concluding thought. | (lost) | Euclid, Apollonius (c. 300). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers | Alchwarizmi (800). Ibn Kurra (850). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers | Gauss (d. 1855), Cauchy (d. 1857). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers |
Table I from The Decline of the West, Vol. I. Each row is one stage of the soul's life; read across to see the figures Spengler holds to be 'contemporary' — at the same point in their Culture's cycle, whatever the calendar date.
Indian from 1500 B.C.
Spring · I
Vedic religion. Aryan hero-tales.
Spring · II
Preserved in the oldest parts of the Vedas.
Summer · III
Brahmanas. Oldest parts of the Upanishads (10th and 9th Centuries).
Summer · IV
Preserved in the Upanishads.
Summer · V
(lost)
Summer · VI
(lost)
Autumn · VII
Sutras; Sankhya; Buddha; later Upanishads.
Autumn · VIII
(lost)
Autumn · IX
Idealism (Yoga, Vedanta). Epistemology (Vaisheshika). Logic (Nyaya).
Winter · X
Sankhya. Tscharvaka (Lokoyata).
Winter · XI
Tendencies in Buddha's time. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism
Winter · XII
(lost)
Classical from 1100 B.C.
Spring · I
Hellenic-Italian “Demeter” religion of the people. Homer. Heracles and Theseus legends.
Spring · II
Oldest (oral) Orphic, Etruscan discipline. After-effect: Hesiod, Cosmogonies.
Summer · III
Orphic movement. Dionysiac religion. “Numa” religion (7th Century).
Summer · IV
The great Pre-Socratics (6th and 5th Centuries).
Summer · V
Number as magnitude (proportion). Geometry, Arithmetic. Pythagoreans (from 540). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Summer · VI
Pythagorean society (from 540).
Autumn · VII
Sophists of the 5th Century. Socrates (d. 399). Democritus (d. c. 360).
Autumn · VIII
Archytas (d. 365). Plato (d. 346). (Conic Sections.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Autumn · IX
Plato (d. 346). Aristotle (d. 322).
Winter · X
Cynics, Cyrenaics. Last Sophists (Pyrrhon). ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism
Winter · XI
Hellenism. Epicurus (d. 270), Zeno (d. 265). ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism
Winter · XII
Euclid, Apollonius (c. 300). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Arabian from 0
Spring · I
Primitive Christianity (Mandaeans, Marcion, Gnosis, Syncretism: Mithras, Baal). Gospels, Apocalypses. Christian, Mazdaist and pagan legends.
Spring · II
Origen (d. 254), Plotinus (d. 269), Mani (d. 276), Iamblichus (d. 330). Avesta, Talmud, Patristic literature.
Summer · III
Augustine (d. 430). Nestorians (c. 430). Monophysites (c. 450). Mazdak (c. 500).
Summer · IV
Byzantine, Jewish, Syrian, Coptic and Persian literature of the 6th and 7th Centuries.
Summer · V
The indefinite number (Algebra). (Development not yet investigated.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Summer · VI
Mohammed (622). Paulicians and Iconoclasts (from 650).
Autumn · VII
Mutazilites. Sufism. Nazzam, Alkindi (c. 830).
Autumn · VIII
(Not investigated.) (Theory of number. Spherical Trigonometry.)
Autumn · IX
Alfarabi (d. 950). Avicenna (d. c. 1000).
Winter · X
Communistic, atheistic, Epicurean sects of Abbassid times. “Brethren of Sincerity.”
Winter · XI
Movements in Islam.
Winter · XII
Alchwarizmi (800). Ibn Kurra (850). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Western from 900
Spring · I
German Catholicism. Edda (Baldr). Bernard of Clairvaux, Joachim of Floris, Francis of Assisi. Popular Epos (Siegfried). Western legends of the Saints.
Spring · II
Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), Duns Scotus (d. 1308), Dante (d. 1321), Eckhardt (d. 1329). Mysticism. Scholasticism.
Summer · III
Nicolaus Cusanus (d. 1464). John Hus (d. 1415). Savonarola, Karlstadt, Luther, Calvin (d. 1564).
Summer · IV
Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Bruno, Boehme, Leibniz (16th and 17th Centuries).
Summer · V
Number as Function (analysis). Descartes, Pascal, Fermat (c. 1630). Newton and Leibniz (c. 1670). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Summer · VI
English Puritans (from 1620). French Jansenists (from 1640), Port Royal.
Autumn · VII
English Rationalists (Locke). French Encyclopaedists (Voltaire). Rousseau.
Autumn · VIII
Euler (d. 1763), Lagrange (d. 1813), Laplace (d. 1827). (The Infinitesimal problem.) ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Autumn · IX
Goethe. Kant. Schelling, Hegel, Fichte.
Winter · X
Bentham, Comte, Darwin. Spencer, Stirner, Marx, Feuerbach. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism
Winter · XI
Schopenhauer, Nietzsche. Socialism, Anarchism. Hebbel, Wagner, Ibsen. ↪ Soul-image and Life-feeling (2): Buddhism, Stoicism, and Socialism
Winter · XII
Gauss (d. 1855), Cauchy (d. 1857). ↪ The Meaning of Numbers
Source: every cell is transcribed from Decline of the West, Vol. I — Table I, “Contemporary” Spiritual Epochs (at end of volume). —The Decline of the West, Volume 1: Form and Actuality. Where the source OCR garbles a date or bleeds a cell, the entry carries an editorial note (⚑). Where the reading text treats a cell's theme at length, the cell carries an “↪ chapter” deep-link into the reader; this linking is thematic and selective — not every cell is wired.
“Contemporary” Culture Epochs
Cultures Contemporaries
| Epoch | Egyptianfrom 3400 B.C. | Classicalfrom 1600 B.C. | Arabianfrom 500 B.C. | Westernfrom 900 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Cultural Period | ||||
| — Chaos of primitive expression-forms. Mystical symbolism and naïve imitation. | Thinite Period (3400–3000). | Mycenean Age (1600–1700). Fore-cultures: Late-Egyptian (Minoan), Late-Babylonian (Asia Minor). ⚑ editorial note | Persian-Seleucid Period (500–0). Fore-cultures: Late-Classical (Hellenistic), Late-Indian (Indo-Iranian). | Merovingian-Carolingian Era (500–900). |
| Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) | ||||
| I Early Period — ornament and architecture as the elementary expression of the young world-feeling (the “Primitives”). | Old Kingdom (2900–2400). | Doric (1100–500). | Early-Arabian form-world (0–500): Sassanid, Byzantine, Armenian, Syrian, Sabæan, “Late-Classical” and “Early Christian”. | Gothic (900–1500). |
| 1 Birth and rise. Forms sprung from the land, unconsciously shaped. | Dynasties IV–V (2930–2625). Geometrical temple-style. Pyramid temples. Ranked plant-columns. Rows of flat-relief. Tomb statues. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form | 11th to 9th Centuries. Timber building. Doric column. Architrave. Geometric (Dipylon) style. Burial urns. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form | 1st to 3rd Centuries. Cult interiors. Basilica, cupola (Pantheon as mosque). Column-and-arch. Stem-tracery filling blanks. Sarcophagus. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form | 11th to 13th Centuries. Romanesque and Early-Gothic vaulted cathedrals. Flying buttress. Glass-painting; cathedral sculpture. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form |
| 2 Completion of the early form-language. Exhaustion of possibilities. Contradiction. | VI Dynasty (2625–2574). Extinction of the pyramid-style and the epic-idyllic relief style. Floraison of archaic portrait-plastic painting. | 8th and 7th Centuries. End of the archaic Doric-Etruscan style. Proto-Corinthian–Early-Attic (mythological) vase. | 4th–5th Centuries. End of Syrian, Persian and Coptic pictorial art. Rise of mosaic-picturing and of arabesque. | 14th–15th Centuries. Late Gothic and Renaissance. Floraison and waning of fresco and statue, from Giotto (Gothic) to Michelangelo (Baroque); Siena, Nürnberg; the Gothic picture from Van Eyck to Holbein. Counterpoint and oil-painting. |
| Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) | ||||
| II Late Period — a group of urban, conscious arts in the hands of individuals (the “Great Masters”). | Middle Kingdom (2150–1800). | Ionic (650–350). | Late-Arabian form-world (500–800): Persian-Nestorian, Byzantine-Armenian, Islamic-Moorish. | Baroque (1500–1800). |
| 3 Formation of a mature artistry. | XIth Dynasty. Delicate and telling art (almost no traces left). | Completion of the temple-body (peripteros, in stone). The Ionic column. Reign of fresco-painting till Polygnotus (460). Rise of free plastic “in the round” (“Apollo of Tenea” to Hageladas). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait | Completion of the mosque-interior (central dome of Hagia Sophia). Zenith of mosaic painting. Completion of the carpet-like arabesque style (Machatta). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait | The pictorial style in architecture, from Michelangelo to Bernini (d. 1680). Reign of oil-painting from Titian to Rembrandt (d. 1664). Rise of music from Orlando Lasso to H. Schütz (d. 1671). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait |
| 4 Perfection of an intellectualized form-language. | XIIth Dynasty (2000–1788). Pylon-temple, labyrinth. Character-statuary and historical reliefs. | Maturity of Athens (480–350). The Acropolis. Reign of Classical plastic from Myron to Phidias. End of strict fresco and ceramic painting (Zeuxis). | Ommayads (7th–8th Century). Complete victory of the featureless arabesque over architecture also. | Rococo. Musical architecture (“Rococo”). Reign of Classical music from Bach to Mozart. End of Classical oil-painting (Watteau to Goya). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait |
| 5 Exhaustion of strict creativeness. Dissolution of the grand form. End of the Style: “Classicism” and “Romanticism”. | Confusion after about 1750 (no remains). | The age of Alexander. The Corinthian column. Lysippus and Apelles. | “Haroun-al-Raschid” (about 800). “Moorish art”. | Empire and Biedermeyer. Classicist taste in architecture. Beethoven, Delacroix. |
| Civilization | ||||
| 1 “Modern art.” “Art-problems.” Attempts to portray or excite the megalopolitan consciousness; music, architecture and painting turn into mere craft-arts. | Hyksos Period (preserved only in Crete; Minoan art). | Hellenism. Pergamene art (theatricality). Hellenistic painting modes (veristic, bizarre, subjective). Architectural display in the cities of the Diadochi. | Sultan dynasties of the 9th–10th Century. Prime of Spanish-Sicilian art. Samarra. | 19th and 20th Centuries. Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner. Impressionism from Constable to Leibl and Manet. American architecture. |
| 2 End of form-development. Meaningless, empty, pretentious architecture and ornament. Imitation of archaic and exotic motives. | XVIII Dynasty (1580–1350). Rock-temple of Dehr-el-Bahri. Memnon-colossi. Art of Cnossos and Amarna. | Roman Period (100–0–100). Indiscriminate piling of all three orders. Fora, theatres (Colosseum). Triumphal arches. | Seljuks (from 1050). “Oriental art” of the Crusade period. | From 2000. ⚑ editorial note |
| 3 Finale. A fixed stock of forms. Imperial display by means of material and mass. Provincial craft-art. | XIX Dynasty (1350–1205). Gigantic buildings of Luxor, Karnak and Abydos. Small-art (beast-plastic, textiles, arms). | Trajan to Aurelian. Gigantic fora, thermæ, colonnades, triumphal arches. Roman provincial art (ceramic, statuary, arms). | Mongol Period (from 1250). Gigantic buildings (e.g. in India). Oriental craft-art (rugs, arms, implements). | From 2000. ⚑ editorial note |
Table II from The Decline of the West, Vol. I. The art-history table: read a row across to see the architecture, sculpture, painting and music Spengler holds to be 'contemporary' — at the same stage of their Culture's style-cycle. The macro-phases are Pre-Cultural, the Culture's Early and Late periods (its 'great style'), and the formless Civilization.
Egyptian from 3400 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Thinite Period (3400–3000).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · I
Old Kingdom (2900–2400).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 1
Dynasties IV–V (2930–2625). Geometrical temple-style. Pyramid temples. Ranked plant-columns. Rows of flat-relief. Tomb statues. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 2
VI Dynasty (2625–2574). Extinction of the pyramid-style and the epic-idyllic relief style. Floraison of archaic portrait-plastic painting.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · II
Middle Kingdom (2150–1800).
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 3
XIth Dynasty. Delicate and telling art (almost no traces left).
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 4
XIIth Dynasty (2000–1788). Pylon-temple, labyrinth. Character-statuary and historical reliefs.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 5
Confusion after about 1750 (no remains).
Civilization · 1
Hyksos Period (preserved only in Crete; Minoan art).
Civilization · 2
XVIII Dynasty (1580–1350). Rock-temple of Dehr-el-Bahri. Memnon-colossi. Art of Cnossos and Amarna.
Civilization · 3
XIX Dynasty (1350–1205). Gigantic buildings of Luxor, Karnak and Abydos. Small-art (beast-plastic, textiles, arms).
Classical from 1600 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Mycenean Age (1600–1700). Fore-cultures: Late-Egyptian (Minoan), Late-Babylonian (Asia Minor).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · I
Doric (1100–500).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 1
11th to 9th Centuries. Timber building. Doric column. Architrave. Geometric (Dipylon) style. Burial urns. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 2
8th and 7th Centuries. End of the archaic Doric-Etruscan style. Proto-Corinthian–Early-Attic (mythological) vase.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · II
Ionic (650–350).
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 3
Completion of the temple-body (peripteros, in stone). The Ionic column. Reign of fresco-painting till Polygnotus (460). Rise of free plastic “in the round” (“Apollo of Tenea” to Hageladas). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 4
Maturity of Athens (480–350). The Acropolis. Reign of Classical plastic from Myron to Phidias. End of strict fresco and ceramic painting (Zeuxis).
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 5
The age of Alexander. The Corinthian column. Lysippus and Apelles.
Civilization · 1
Hellenism. Pergamene art (theatricality). Hellenistic painting modes (veristic, bizarre, subjective). Architectural display in the cities of the Diadochi.
Civilization · 2
Roman Period (100–0–100). Indiscriminate piling of all three orders. Fora, theatres (Colosseum). Triumphal arches.
Civilization · 3
Trajan to Aurelian. Gigantic fora, thermæ, colonnades, triumphal arches. Roman provincial art (ceramic, statuary, arms).
Arabian from 500 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Persian-Seleucid Period (500–0). Fore-cultures: Late-Classical (Hellenistic), Late-Indian (Indo-Iranian).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · I
Early-Arabian form-world (0–500): Sassanid, Byzantine, Armenian, Syrian, Sabæan, “Late-Classical” and “Early Christian”.
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 1
1st to 3rd Centuries. Cult interiors. Basilica, cupola (Pantheon as mosque). Column-and-arch. Stem-tracery filling blanks. Sarcophagus. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 2
4th–5th Centuries. End of Syrian, Persian and Coptic pictorial art. Rise of mosaic-picturing and of arabesque.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · II
Late-Arabian form-world (500–800): Persian-Nestorian, Byzantine-Armenian, Islamic-Moorish.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 3
Completion of the mosque-interior (central dome of Hagia Sophia). Zenith of mosaic painting. Completion of the carpet-like arabesque style (Machatta). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 4
Ommayads (7th–8th Century). Complete victory of the featureless arabesque over architecture also.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 5
“Haroun-al-Raschid” (about 800). “Moorish art”.
Civilization · 1
Sultan dynasties of the 9th–10th Century. Prime of Spanish-Sicilian art. Samarra.
Civilization · 2
Seljuks (from 1050). “Oriental art” of the Crusade period.
Civilization · 3
Mongol Period (from 1250). Gigantic buildings (e.g. in India). Oriental craft-art (rugs, arms, implements).
Western from 900
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Merovingian-Carolingian Era (500–900).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · I
Gothic (900–1500).
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 1
11th to 13th Centuries. Romanesque and Early-Gothic vaulted cathedrals. Flying buttress. Glass-painting; cathedral sculpture. ↪ Music and Plastic (1): The Arts of Form
Culture · Early Period (the “Great Style”) · 2
14th–15th Centuries. Late Gothic and Renaissance. Floraison and waning of fresco and statue, from Giotto (Gothic) to Michelangelo (Baroque); Siena, Nürnberg; the Gothic picture from Van Eyck to Holbein. Counterpoint and oil-painting.
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · II
Baroque (1500–1800).
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 3
The pictorial style in architecture, from Michelangelo to Bernini (d. 1680). Reign of oil-painting from Titian to Rembrandt (d. 1664). Rise of music from Orlando Lasso to H. Schütz (d. 1671). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 4
Rococo. Musical architecture (“Rococo”). Reign of Classical music from Bach to Mozart. End of Classical oil-painting (Watteau to Goya). ↪ Music and Plastic (2): Act and Portrait
Culture · Late Period (the “Great Masters”) · 5
Empire and Biedermeyer. Classicist taste in architecture. Beethoven, Delacroix.
Civilization · 1
19th and 20th Centuries. Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner. Impressionism from Constable to Leibl and Manet. American architecture.
Civilization · 2
From 2000.
Civilization · 3
From 2000.
Source: every cell is transcribed from Decline of the West, Vol. I — Table II, “Contemporary” Culture Epochs (foldout at end of volume). —The Decline of the West, Volume 1: Form and Actuality. Where the source OCR garbles a date or bleeds a cell, the entry carries an editorial note (⚑). Where the reading text treats a cell's theme at length, the cell carries an “↪ chapter” deep-link into the reader; this linking is thematic and selective — not every cell is wired.
“Contemporary” Political Epochs
Cultures Contemporaries
| Epoch | Egyptianfrom 3400 B.C. | Classicalfrom 1600 B.C. | Chinesefrom 1700 B.C. | Westernfrom 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Cultural Period | ||||
| — Primitive folk. Tribes and their chiefs. As yet no “politics” and no “state”. | Thinite Period (Menes), 3400–3000. | Mycenean Age (“Agamemnon”), 1600–1100. | Shang Period (1700–1300). | Frankish Period (Charlemagne), 500–900. |
| Culture · Early Period | ||||
| I Early Period — organic articulation of political existence; the two prime classes (noble and priest); feudal economics, purely agrarian values. | Old Kingdom (2900–2400). | Doric Period (1100–650). | Early Chou Period (1300–800). | Gothic Period (900–1500). |
| 1 Feudalism. Spirit of countryside and countryman; the “City” only a market or stronghold; chivalric-religious ideals; struggles of vassals among themselves and against the overlord. | Feudal conditions of the IV Dynasty. Increasing power of the feudatories and priesthoods. The Pharaoh as incarnation of Ra. | The Homeric kingship. Rise of the nobility (Ithaca, Etruria, Sparta). ↪ The State (A): The Problem of the Estates — Nobility and Priesthood | The central ruler (Wang) pressed hard by the feudal nobility. | Roman-German Imperial period. Crusading nobility. Empire and Papacy. ↪ The State (A): The Problem of the Estates — Nobility and Priesthood |
| 2 Crisis and dissolution of patriarchal forms. From feudalism to the aristocratic State. | VI Dynasty: break-up of the Kingdom into heritable principalities. VII and VIII Dynasties: interregnum. | Aristocratic synoecism. Dissolution of kinship into annual offices. Oligarchy. | 934–904: I-Wang and the vassals. 842: interregnum. | Territorial princes. Renaissance towns. Lancaster and York. 1254: interregnum. |
| Culture · Late Period | ||||
| II Late Period — the matured State-idea actualized; town versus countryside; rise of the Third Estate (bourgeoisie); victory of money over landed property. | Middle Kingdom (2150–1800). | Ionic Period (650–300). | Late Chou Period (800–500). | Baroque Period (1500–1800). |
| 3 Fashioning of a world of States of strict form. Frondes. | XIth Dynasty: overthrow of the baronage by the rulers of Thebes. Centralized bureaucracy-state. | 6th Century: First Tyrannis (Cleisthenes, Periander, Polycrates, the Tarquins). The City-State. | Period of the “Protectors” (Ming-Chu, 685–591) and the rulers of Thebes; congresses of princes (to 460). ⚑ editorial note | Dynastic family-power; the Fronde (Richelieu, Wallenstein, Cromwell), about 1630. |
| 4 Climax of the State-form (“Absolutism”). Unity of town and “Society”; the “three estates”. | XIIth Dynasty (2000–1788). Strictest centralization of power. Court and finance nobility. | The pure Polis (absolutism of the Demos). Agora politics. Rise of the tribunate. Themistocles, Pericles. ↪ The State (B): State and History | Chun-Chiu period (“Spring and Autumn”), 590–480. Seven powers. Perfection of social forms (Li). | Ancien Régime. Rococo. Court nobility of Versailles. Cabinet politics. Habsburg and Bourbon. Louis XIV. Frederick the Great. ↪ The State (B): State and History |
| 5 Break-up of the State-form (Revolution and Napoleonism). Victory of the city over the countryside, of the “people” over the privileged, of money over policy. | 1788–1680: revolution and military government. Decay of the realm; small potentates, in some cases sprung from the people. | 4th Century: social revolution and Second Tyrannis (Dionysius I, Jason of Pherae, Appius Claudius the Censor). Alexander. Revolutions and annihilation-wars. | 480: beginning of the Chan-Kwo period. 441: fall of the Chou dynasty. | End of the 18th Century: revolution in America and France (Washington, Fox, Mirabeau, Robespierre). Napoleon. |
| Civilization | ||||
| 1 Domination of money (“Democracy”). Economic powers permeating the political forms and authorities. | 1680 (1788)–1580: Hyksos period; deepest decline; dictatures of alien generals (Chian). 288: the imperial title. After 1600: definitive victory of the rulers of Thebes. | 300–100: political Hellenism. From Alexander to Hannibal and Scipio, royal all-power; from Cleomenes III and C. Flaminius (220) to C. Marius, radical demagogues. ↪ The Form-world of Economic Life (A): Money | 480–230: the period of the “Contending States”. The imperialist statesmen of Tsin. From 289: incorporation of the last states in the Empire. | 1800–2000: the 19th Century, from Napoleon to the World-War — the “system of the Great Powers”, standing armies, constitutions; the 20th-Century transition from constitutional to informal sway of individuals; annihilation-wars; imperialism. ↪ The Form-world of Economic Life (A): Money |
| 2 Formation of Cæsarism. Victory of force-politics over money; the nations sink into a formless population, ruled as an imperium of growing crudity. | 1580–1350: XVIIIth Dynasty. Thuthmosis III. | 100–0–100: Sulla to Domitian. Cæsar, Tiberius. ↪ The State (C): Philosophy of Politics | 250–0–26: the House of Wang-Cheng and the Western Han Dynasty. 221: the Augustus-title (Shi) of the Emperor Hwang-Ti. 140–80: Wu-ti. ↪ The State (C): Philosophy of Politics | 1000–1200. ⚑ editorial note |
| 3 Maturing of the final form. Private and family policies of individual leaders; the world as spoil; Egypticism, Mandarinism, Byzantinism; ossification even of the imperial machinery. | 1350–1205: XIXth Dynasty. Sethos I. Rameses II. | 100–300: Trajan to Aurelian. Trajan, Septimius Severus. | 25–220 A.D.: Eastern Han Dynasty. 58–71: Ming-ti. | after 1200. ⚑ editorial note |
Table III from The Decline of the West, Vol. I. The political-history table — note that the third column is now China, not Arabia. Read a row across to see the states, dynasties and statesmen Spengler holds to be 'contemporary': feudalism, the aristocratic state, absolutism, revolution, and finally money-democracy giving way to Cæsarism. The Western Civilization rows reach into the future; a few cells carry editorial notes where the printed table is anomalous (verified against Project Gutenberg #72344).
Egyptian from 3400 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Thinite Period (Menes), 3400–3000.
Culture · Early Period · I
Old Kingdom (2900–2400).
Culture · Early Period · 1
Feudal conditions of the IV Dynasty. Increasing power of the feudatories and priesthoods. The Pharaoh as incarnation of Ra.
Culture · Early Period · 2
VI Dynasty: break-up of the Kingdom into heritable principalities. VII and VIII Dynasties: interregnum.
Culture · Late Period · II
Middle Kingdom (2150–1800).
Culture · Late Period · 3
XIth Dynasty: overthrow of the baronage by the rulers of Thebes. Centralized bureaucracy-state.
Culture · Late Period · 4
XIIth Dynasty (2000–1788). Strictest centralization of power. Court and finance nobility.
Culture · Late Period · 5
1788–1680: revolution and military government. Decay of the realm; small potentates, in some cases sprung from the people.
Civilization · 1
1680 (1788)–1580: Hyksos period; deepest decline; dictatures of alien generals (Chian). 288: the imperial title. After 1600: definitive victory of the rulers of Thebes.
Civilization · 2
1580–1350: XVIIIth Dynasty. Thuthmosis III.
Civilization · 3
1350–1205: XIXth Dynasty. Sethos I. Rameses II.
Classical from 1600 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Mycenean Age (“Agamemnon”), 1600–1100.
Culture · Early Period · I
Doric Period (1100–650).
Culture · Early Period · 1
The Homeric kingship. Rise of the nobility (Ithaca, Etruria, Sparta). ↪ The State (A): The Problem of the Estates — Nobility and Priesthood
Culture · Early Period · 2
Aristocratic synoecism. Dissolution of kinship into annual offices. Oligarchy.
Culture · Late Period · II
Ionic Period (650–300).
Culture · Late Period · 3
6th Century: First Tyrannis (Cleisthenes, Periander, Polycrates, the Tarquins). The City-State.
Culture · Late Period · 4
The pure Polis (absolutism of the Demos). Agora politics. Rise of the tribunate. Themistocles, Pericles. ↪ The State (B): State and History
Culture · Late Period · 5
4th Century: social revolution and Second Tyrannis (Dionysius I, Jason of Pherae, Appius Claudius the Censor). Alexander. Revolutions and annihilation-wars.
Civilization · 1
300–100: political Hellenism. From Alexander to Hannibal and Scipio, royal all-power; from Cleomenes III and C. Flaminius (220) to C. Marius, radical demagogues. ↪ The Form-world of Economic Life (A): Money
Civilization · 2
100–0–100: Sulla to Domitian. Cæsar, Tiberius. ↪ The State (C): Philosophy of Politics
Civilization · 3
100–300: Trajan to Aurelian. Trajan, Septimius Severus.
Chinese from 1700 B.C.
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Shang Period (1700–1300).
Culture · Early Period · I
Early Chou Period (1300–800).
Culture · Early Period · 1
The central ruler (Wang) pressed hard by the feudal nobility.
Culture · Early Period · 2
934–904: I-Wang and the vassals. 842: interregnum.
Culture · Late Period · II
Late Chou Period (800–500).
Culture · Late Period · 3
Period of the “Protectors” (Ming-Chu, 685–591) and the rulers of Thebes; congresses of princes (to 460).
Culture · Late Period · 4
Chun-Chiu period (“Spring and Autumn”), 590–480. Seven powers. Perfection of social forms (Li).
Culture · Late Period · 5
480: beginning of the Chan-Kwo period. 441: fall of the Chou dynasty.
Civilization · 1
480–230: the period of the “Contending States”. The imperialist statesmen of Tsin. From 289: incorporation of the last states in the Empire.
Civilization · 2
250–0–26: the House of Wang-Cheng and the Western Han Dynasty. 221: the Augustus-title (Shi) of the Emperor Hwang-Ti. 140–80: Wu-ti. ↪ The State (C): Philosophy of Politics
Civilization · 3
25–220 A.D.: Eastern Han Dynasty. 58–71: Ming-ti.
Western from 500
Pre-Cultural Period · —
Frankish Period (Charlemagne), 500–900.
Culture · Early Period · I
Gothic Period (900–1500).
Culture · Early Period · 1
Roman-German Imperial period. Crusading nobility. Empire and Papacy. ↪ The State (A): The Problem of the Estates — Nobility and Priesthood
Culture · Early Period · 2
Territorial princes. Renaissance towns. Lancaster and York. 1254: interregnum.
Culture · Late Period · II
Baroque Period (1500–1800).
Culture · Late Period · 3
Dynastic family-power; the Fronde (Richelieu, Wallenstein, Cromwell), about 1630.
Culture · Late Period · 4
Ancien Régime. Rococo. Court nobility of Versailles. Cabinet politics. Habsburg and Bourbon. Louis XIV. Frederick the Great. ↪ The State (B): State and History
Culture · Late Period · 5
End of the 18th Century: revolution in America and France (Washington, Fox, Mirabeau, Robespierre). Napoleon.
Civilization · 1
1800–2000: the 19th Century, from Napoleon to the World-War — the “system of the Great Powers”, standing armies, constitutions; the 20th-Century transition from constitutional to informal sway of individuals; annihilation-wars; imperialism. ↪ The Form-world of Economic Life (A): Money
Civilization · 2
1000–1200.
Civilization · 3
after 1200.
Source: every cell is transcribed from Decline of the West, Vol. I — Table III, “Contemporary” Political Epochs (foldout at end of volume). —The Decline of the West, Volume 1: Form and Actuality. Where the source OCR garbles a date or bleeds a cell, the entry carries an editorial note (⚑). Where the reading text treats a cell's theme at length, the cell carries an “↪ chapter” deep-link into the reader; this linking is thematic and selective — not every cell is wired.